Apparatus for subjecting materials to a disintegrating or pulping treatment



April 8, 1952 K. WANDEL 2,592,215

APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATING OR PUL IPING TREATMENT Filed July 4, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 n I; \J i F l G. I

Fl G2 INVENTOR.

KURT WANDEL ATTORNEYS Aprll 8, 1952 WANDEL 2,592,215

APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATING 0R PULPING TREATMENT Filed July 4, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

K URT WA NDE L 01nd ATTORNEYS Apnl s, 1952 K, WANDEL 2,592,215

APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATING OR PULPING TREATMENT Filed July 4, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 2e 24 2a f I? 2 1'.

INVENTOR. KURT WANDEL ma/n4 m ATTORNEYS Aprll 8, 1952 K. WANDEL 2,592,215

- APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATING OR PULPING TREATMENT Filed July 4, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. KURT WAN DEL ATTORNEYS Aprll 8, 1952 K, WANDEL 2,592,215

APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATING OR PULPING TREATMENT Filed July 4, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. K URT WA N D EL Patented Apr. 8, 1952 APPARATUS FOR SUBJECTING MATERIALS TO A DISINTEGRATENG OR PULPING TREATMENT Kurt Wandel, Honey Brook, Pa., Application July 4, 1945, Serial No. 603,181

' 8 Claims. 1

The present invention concerns itself with apparatusffor subjecting to a disintegrating treatment materials that are capable of being floated, suspended, or dispersed in a liquid medium such as water.

The expression subjecting to a disintegrating treatment, is used in the broad sense of mechanically processing, and is intended to include disintegration, defiberization, abrading, tearing apart, decorticating, comminuting, shredding, blending, and mixing.

At this point, it is to be noted that the device of the invention has a very wide field of utility, and may; be used to disintegrate or defiber fibrous materials of vegetable. animal or mineral origin. For instance, it may be used to disinte grate or tear apart the bundles of fibers in paper stock, pulp, rags, leather or asbestos. Itmay be used to'decorticate or remove the outside barks or othercoatings from the woody stems in plants like hemp, china grass, etc. It may be-used to comminute or shred materials such as garbage, so as tofacilitate the removal and disposal of the heavy insoluble portions. It may also be used to form-suspensions and dispersions containing pulp fiing material, which is thrown into the tub, out from the center toward the walls of the tub, by centrifugal force, and the fine teeth serve to disintegrate or tear apart the material as it moves outwardly. I

In a less simple form of apparatus, the impeller consists of a plurality of nested and concentricall-y mounted disks, each disk being concave or dish-shaped and being provided about its circumferential rim with relatively fineteeth.

The material as it is thrown or flung out toward or com minuted materials and to thoroughly intermix'and blend such materials with various other fibrous or non-fibrous materials.

As will" appear from the following description the apparatus of the invention is particularly well' adapted to process waste papers. This is one of the most promising applications of the in- .vention.,especially because of the fact that waste papers are likely to contain, and most often do contain, almost everything,- e. g.- rags, strings, -rubberized fabric, rubber. wire, and metal parts, in addition to such apparently harmless things "as wet' strength paper, parchmentized paper, paper treated with oils, paraffln, asphalt, rubber .and synthetic resins, and paper laminated with .metal foil and insoluble binders.

As will also appear, the apparatus of the invention maybe embodied in various mechanical .forms, differing more orless in structural details, but all embodying the underlying inventive .concept.

In its simplest form. the apparatus consists of .a tub adapted to contain a relatively large volume .of 'li q uid such as water,and an impeller mounted a nearthebottom of the tub for rotation about a :vertical axis. The essential feature of the imp'elleris that-it is concave or dish-shaped, and is .provided about its circumferential rim with a multiplicity of relatively fine teeth. The rapid rotation of theimpellerserves to throw or to the walls of the tub comes into successive con tact with each circular rowoi. teeth. and is disintegrated and torn apart by said teeth.

1 In still another form of the invention, a plurality of toothed impellers, preferably two in direct opposition to each other, are provided. The advantages of this form of apparatus will be pointed out as the description proceeds.

I am aware that the prior art discloses disintegrating apparatus consisting .of an impeller mounted within a tub for rapid rotation. The impellers in prior art devices were not concave or dish-shaped and were provided with a plurality of projecting smooth vanes. The use of prior devices has been limited to operation on a relatively small scale in which thoroughness. of disintegration and suspension as well as power consumption were not of particular importance.

In marked contrast with devices of the'prior art,- the apparatus of the inventionjproduces practically complete disintegration or tearing action with the consumption of considerably. less DOWGI'.

The apparatus of the invention mayiadva n- ;tageously be provided with a novel "form of screening device for automatically separating the processed material from the main body of stock,

of Figure 1;'

Figure3 is a plan view, on a larger scale, of one form of disintegrating disk that may be used;

Figure 4 is a verticalsection taken on line 3-3 of Figure 3, showing the relative proportions of the disk; V

Figure 5 is a fragmentary portion of a disk showing an alternative form. of disintegrating teeth;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary portion of a disk showing another form of disintegrating teeth;

Figure 7 is a plan view of a form of apparatus utilizing a plurality of horizontally disposed nested disintegrating disks;

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a plan view of a form of apparatus utilizing two opposed vertically disposed disintegrating disks;

Figure 10 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of said form of apparatus;

Figure 11 is an end view in elevation of said form of apparatus; and

Figure 12 is a perspective view, partly broken away, on a somewhat larger scale, of a preferred form of screening device, which may be used with said form of apparatus.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive will now be described in greater detail.

The numeral i designates the tub or vat, which may take any desired form or shape. It is shown as being made of concrete, but other materials may beused The disintegrating disk is denoted by 2,and is shown as being partially housed within a large depression 3 in the bottom of the tub i. The disk is mounted at the upper end of a vertical shaft 4, which extends through a suitable aperture in the bottom of the tub I. The shaft may be provided with a pulley to receive an endless driving belt 6. The belt is adapted to be driven by a motor I through a second pulley 8 in a manner well known to the art. A discharge pipe, denoted by 9, may advantageously be provided. The upper end of the discharge pipe is 'of projections, vanes, etc. The disk is shown as having a central square aperture l2, surrounded by circular holes i3. The disk is adapted to be received on the shaft 4 by means of the aperture I2, and the holes 13 are adapted to receive studs to secure the disk to the shaft.

The greater portion of the disk is preferably part of a spherical surface, the radius of curvature being advantageously equal to the diameter (across dimension of the disk). The marginal periphery of the disk is preferably on the surface of a second sphere having a radius of curvature equal to one-tenth of the radius of curvature of the first sphere. These, proportions are indicated in Figure 4. It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the exact proportions.

A very important feature of the invention is the provision of relatively fine teeth on the periphery of the disintegrating disk. These teeth may take various forms, several illustration forms being shown in Figures 4,5, and 6.

In Figure 4, the teeth, which are indicated by [4, are sharpened pin points, separated from each other by semi-circular spaces i5. This form of teeth is particularly well suited for disintegrating rags and for picking apart twisted and woven fibers such as in tire fabric. In actual tests on a batch of woolen cloth, fibres were completely separated, and in such condition that they could be'carded' and rewoven.

The teeth in Figure 5, which are denoted by I6,

- 4 are triangular in form and present relatively blunt knife edges I! to the stock. The angle between the teeth is preferably in the neighborhood of This form of teeth is designed for handling rough stock, which may contain minerals, stone, glass, etc., and is well adapted to break up mixed paper stock into small fragments. In Figure 6 is shown a form of teeth, which are designed to trim off long fibers from the stalks of plants, and to skin or to separate the outside fibrous layers from the woody interiors. These teeth, designated by 18, are in the form of triangular pyramids. It is important to note that fibers cannot become entangled in the teeth or the disk; .nor can the teeth cut the fiber. The depth of the teeth is preferably in the neighborhood of 4 inch, and the pitch (distance between teeth) about A inch. The dimensions of the teeth may be substantially the same for all sizes of disks, but a variation in proportions within fairly wide limits is permissible.

Several disks with different forms of teeth may be provided for each device, so the disks maybe interchanged for the particular piece of work to be done.

It will be understood from the foregoing disclosure that when the disintegrating disk is set in rapid motion (2000 or more F. P. M., circumferential speed), the solid material contained in the vat will tend' to be rotated by the disk and be thrown or flung outwardlyby centrifugal action. The fine teeth travelling at'highspeed in a circular orbit impact the solid-material and disintegrate or tear itapart; The factthat the upper surfaces of the disks are smooth and no projecting vanes-are presented to the stock means that -a maximum disintegration will occur with minimum power consumption.

It will also be understood that in the disclosed device, strings or pieces of rag cannot get caught on projections as in the case where vanes are used.

Figures '7 and 8 illustrate a form of disintegrating apparatus utilizing a plurality of con centricor nested disintegrating disks. The vat ortub, which may be of any suitable material and 'of desired size for a particular purpose, is denoted by 2 l. The numeral 22 designates the shaft, upon which are mounted the nested or concentric disintegrator disks, 23, 24, 25, 26, 21, 28, and 29. Each of the disks is concave or dish-shaped and is provided with fine peripheral teeth of the kinds 'fiung outwardly and upwardly and subjected to the action of the successive rows of teeth. The result is a thorough disintegration or tearing apart'of the fibers. 1 I

Figures 9, 10 and I1 illustrate a form of apparatus utilizing two opposed disks. The vat or tub, which is denoted generally by the numeral Si. is shown as being in the form of a cylinder resting on its side, and having the outwardly rounded ends 33 -and 34. The vat may be em- "beddeld'o'r builtintoa concrete' fioor or foundation'. The'foundation is shownas being'in the form of two spaced blocks (concrete or similar' material) 35 and "-36, which support the tub or vat at the two ends. of the vat is provided with a concave depression or-w'ell 31 which extends down into the space between the two foundation blocks. The well 31 serves as a junk bowl, and may be provided with suitable means (not shown) for cleaning out the junk which accumulates. Means (also not shown) may be provided to supply fresh water to the junk bowl to keep the pulp from settling in the-junk bowl. The space between the blocks 35, 36 permits access to the junk bowl from the outside. L Extending through the roundedends 33 and 34 of'zthe vat are the two opposed horizontal shafts 38 and 39, which are preferably but not necessarily in alinement. The shaft 38 is journalled in the upper part of a standard 40, and the shaft 39 is journalled in the upper part of a standard 4|. Preferably, each shaft is coupled The lower side (bottom) 6 pending upon whether there is one? or more disks in each impeller), and the material is torn: apart and disintegrated into its constitutent fibers.

' The disintegration occurs without substantial cutting or shortening of the fibers.

Heavy materials and objects such, as metal sink almost impeller. Furthermore, the impellers cannot be to a, separate source of power so that its direction and speed of rotation may be varied independently of the other. In the drawing, shaft 38 is shown provided with a pulley 42 and shaft 39 isshown provided with a pulley 43. The pulley 42 is driven by a motor 44 through a belt 45, and the pulley 43 is driven by a motor 46 through a belt 41. Means (not shown) may be provided to change the speed and/or direction of rotation of either or both motors and hence of the shafts.

Mounted on the inner opposed ends of the two shafts are shown the disk impellers 48 and 49. These impellers are preferably of the concave or dish-shaped toothed construction such as illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6. Each impeller may consist of a single disk or of a plurality of nested concentric disks such as is illustrated damaged by heavy objects which are sometimes found in waste papers. Entire rolls or bales of paper may be thrown in, and it,. is, no longer necessary to make certain that all wire, or metal fastenlngs are removed. Then agairrthere are absolutely no dead spaces, and no snagging can occur because of strings, twine or wire. As has been stated, a novel form of screening device may be provided for automatically separating the processed material from the main body of stock, thereby permitting continuous operation.

Referring to Figures 11 and 12, it will be noted that the vat or tub 3| is providedat its upper v portion with an overflow chamber 56, which comin Figures 7 and 8. Each impeller is preferably mounted close to the rounded end of the vat so as to leave a maximum of free space between their opposed concave faces. A guard ring such as shown at 5| may be provided to prevent stock from getting between the disks and the rounded ends.

The upper side or top of the vat has a substantially rectangular opening 52, which is provided with vertical flange 53. The flange extends around the opening on all sides but leaves a gap near the backside, and extends through the charging floor indicated by 54. The flanged opening-constitutes the hopper through which the material or stock to be processed is fed. The necessary water may be supplied through a vertical pipe 55, which extends through the flanged opening.

As thus far described, the apparatus may be operated on the batch system. Material to be processed such as bales of pulp, wastepapers, rags, stalks, etc. are thrown in through the feed hopper, the necessary amount of water is supplied by meansof the pipe and the impellers 48 and 49 set inmotion. They may be rotated in the same direction at the same or different, speeds, but preferably'they are rotated in opposite directions at the "same speed. What apparently happens is that materials other than heavy objects tend to be drawn to the impellers and to rotate therewith, but are thrown or flung out by centrifugal force, taking a circular path back to the impellers. In the open space between the impellers, the material thrown out by the two impellers mingle, so that material does not necessarily return to the same impeller each time. As the material is thrown out, it must of necessity pass over the row or rows of fine teeth (denected with the pipe 60.

municates with the feed hopper through the gap in the flange 53. This chamber may be substantially rectangular, and has the floor 51, which is somewhat lower than the normal height of the water in the vat'or tube 3|. The numeral 58 denotes a dam or weir, and 59 indicates a vertical pipe extending downwardly from the overflow chamber. Means'may be provided to regulate the height of the weir or dam, it being understood that liquid entering the chamber and overflowing the dam or weir will be discharged through the pipe 59.

The pipe '59 connects with a horizontal pipe 60, which is in alinement with a second horinzon tal pipe 6|. The pipe 6| is connected to the vat or tub 3| near the bottom. A valve 62 is'provided at the juncture of pipes 59, B0 and 6| so that either pipe 59 or 6| may be selectively con;-

A pump 63 operated by a motor 64 is, shown in Figure 11. This pump may be used to discharge the water contained in the vat or tub. or to conduct the processed stock being discharged from the pipe 59 to a desired point in the plant. I

The screening device consists of a conical shaped perforated metal frame 65, which is seecured to the end of a shaft 66, the shaft being disposed at about 30 to the horizontal. The shaft is supported near the frame by means of a hanger 61 and a bearing 68, and near its opposite end by means of a support and thrust bearing indicated by 69. Said end has a gear 10 secured thereto, which is connected to a motor 1|.

The size of the perforations in the conical (umbrella) frame 65 is such that it permits only disintegrated fibers to escape, holding back material which has not been. su filcientlyprocessed.

For, most purposes, I have found holes having diametei's of half an inch to be suitable. A speed of rotation of 20 R. P. M. hasbeen'found suitable for the purposes ofjthe invention. s

, It follows from the foregoing description of the screening apparatus that as the screen slowly rotates, completely processed pulp passes through the apertures and is carried over the weir or dam 58 into the discharge pipe 59. A shower pipe 12 having an enlarged spray end '13 in the vicinity of the screen may be provided to keep the perforations free of pulp. This renders the screening device self=cleansing. Since the apparatus operates continuously, it is only necessary for an attendant to feed bales of fibrous material through the hopper periodically.

The foregoing description has been given by way of illustration only, and no limitations are to be imported which are not required by the state of the art.

Iclaim:

1. Disintegrating apparatus having, in combination, a vat adapted to contain water and the material to be disintegrated and a disintegrating impeller in said vat comprising a concave disk having its main body portion of hollow spheroidal configuration, the radius of curvature of' said body portion being approximately equal to the diameter of; the disk, said disk being rotatable about an axis in respect to which it is symmetrical and having a multiplicity of marginal teeth projecting from its'concave side into the path of the water borne material travelling outwardly on and in intimate contact with said concave side from the axis or rotation under the action of centrifugal force and means for supporting said disk for rotation at high peripheral speed, including a driving shaft projecting through a wall oif said vat and upon -which said disk is mounted with its concave side uninterruptedly exposed to thevat co ents. v

2. Disintegrating apparatus having, in combination, a vat adapted to contain water and the material to be disintegrated and a disintegrating impeller in said vat comprising a concave element having its main body. portion of hollow spheroidal configuration, the radius of curvature of said body portion being approximately equal to the diameter of said element, said element being rotatable about an axis with respect to which it is symmetrical, said element having distributed over a substantial marginal portion of its concave side a multiplicity of teeth projecting into the path of the water borne material travelling outwardly f rorn the axis of rotation in intimate contact withsaid concave side under the action of centrifugal force and means for supporting said element for rotation at high peripheral speed including a driving shaft projecting through a wall of said vat and upon which said element is'mounted with its concave side uninterruptedly exposed to the vat contents.

3. Disintegrating apparatus according to claim 1 in which theteeth are substantially pyramidal in order that they may be self-cleansing.

4. Disintegrating apparatus according to claim 2 in which the teeth are substantially pyramidal in order that they may be self-cleansing.

5. Disintegrating apparatus according to claim 1 in which the impeller is of substantially spherical segment contour and the vat has a concave wall of somewhat greater spherical radius than that of the impeller and through which concave wall the driving shaft. extends along a spherical radius of said wall and adjacent to which concave wall said impeller 1s located.

6. Disintegrating apparatus according to claim 1 in whichtwo substantially aligned horizontal shafts extend through opposite walls of the vat. each carrying on its inner end a concave disintegrating impeller having its disintegrating face directly opposed to the disintegrating face of the other impeller, the space between said im-. pellers being uninterrupted and the said opposite walls being provided with coaxial concavities in which said impellers are located. g

7. Disintegrating apparatus having in combination a vat adapted to contain water and the material to be disintegrated and a disintegrating impeller in said vat comprising two or more nested, co-axial, concave disks each having on its periphery a multiplicity of relatively fine teeth and the assembled structure presenting the disintegrating teeth of the successive peripheries in an overall concave arrangement, said disks being rotatable about an axis with respect to which said disks are symmetrical, and means for supporting said disks for rotation at high peripheral.

speed, including a driving shaft projecting through a wall of said vat and upon which said disks are mounted with their concave sides uninter-ruptedly exposed to the vat contents.

8. Disintegrating apparatus having in combination a vat adapted to contain water and the material to be disintegrated, and a disintegrating impellerin said vat comprising two or more nested, co-axial, concave disks each having on its periphery a multiplicity of relatively fine teeth and each succeeding row of peripheral teeth of the nested disks from the periphery of the outermost disk toward the center of the assembled structure being depressed in respect to the preceding row, said disks being rotatable about an axis with respect to which said disks are symmetrical, and means for supporting said disks for rotation at high peripheral speed including a driving shaft projecting through a wall of said vat and upon which said disks are mounted with their concave sides uninterruptedly exposed to the vat contents.

KURT WANDEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 14,268 Kern, Feb. 12, 1856 147,733 Yearsley Feb. 17, 1874 515,941 Savage Mar. 6, 1894 753,440 Spencer Mar. 1, 1904 1,013,529 Burby Jan. 2, 1912 1,106,803 I-Iaug Aug. 11,1914 1,564,974 Petersen Dec. 8,; 1925 1,981,031 Davis Nov. 20,1934 2,139,274 Justice at, al. Dec. 6, 1938 2,192,944 Thomas Mar. 12, 1940 2,336,798 Nash Dec. 14, 1943 2,344,047 Lowe Mar. 14, 1944 2,351,492 Cowles June 13, 1944 2,371,837 Martindale Mar. 20, 1945 2,384,326 Martindale Sept. 4., 1.945

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 114,170, Austria Sept. 10, 1929 

